Shadow Empire

Chapter 807 Family Iron Law
Mero was handling some of the work that was supposed to be handled by Lance.

Alvin is the second-in-command of the Lance family, and Melo is the third-in-command.

He is not as dazzling as other senior officials. In fact, many people will ignore this guy at the beginning. He doesn't like to stand in front of people, but just stands quietly in the corner.

But he is a reliable person, calm, reserved and careful, so Lance often calls him "the family's butler" with a smile.

His abilities are much stronger than people think. He is also one of the oldest members of the family and has a lot of experience.

So when Lance and Erwin were not around, it was Melo who was in charge of the operations of the family.

His voice was gentle and unhurried, without the flamboyance that young people often exude.

"Let's do this according to Lance's opinion first. If it doesn't work..." The phone on the table suddenly rang. He paused, then handed the document to the person in front of him, "If it doesn't work, tell me again, and I'll contact Lance."

The person across from the desk nodded and left the room with the documents. After the door closed, Melo answered the phone, "This is Wanli Company."

To the outside world, they are all "Wanli Company" or "Wanli Group". The voice of the director of the police department of the neighboring state came from the receiver, "Hello, I want to speak to Mr. Lance."

"Mr. Lance is busy and cannot answer your call for the time being. You can leave your name, number, and why you are calling. I will pass it on to Mr. Lance when he returns."

The director was silent for a while, then he gave his name and number, "I have some private matters that can only be shared with Mr. Lance, so... I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

Melo, who was recording the number, looked at this unfamiliar number that was not from this state. He seemed to understand something and said, "This is the number of Indeno State."

The director thought that maybe the person who was answering the phone had some relationship with Lance, so he added, "There may be some misunderstanding between us. I hope to communicate with Lance to resolve this misunderstanding, so please."

Mello did not refuse, "I will tell Mr. Lance, but I can't guarantee you how he will do it."

"Is there anything else besides this?"

The chief shook his head. "No sir, no more."

Mello smiled and said, "Good luck, sir."

"You too."

He put down the phone, smiled, and then dialed the number left by Erwin.

Alvin was already waiting for Lance. Lance's train would arrive at midnight today. With enough money spent, the train's speed had been increased to the maximum, and there were only a few carriages for them.

The people at the railway company liked to serve Lance. Lance paid them a lot, had a lot of business, and was not overbearing or unreasonable.

This is not like some idiots who think they have a little money and always find ways to find fault with others.

Gentleman Lance doesn't look like a gangster at all!
They are also willing to run faster.

So Lance hadn't arrived yet, and it was Erwin who answered the phone, "Is Lance here?"

"No, no, it will take a few more hours, what's wrong?" Erwin glanced at the time on his wrist. They had agreed to meet at eight to nine in the evening.

Mero replied, "Nothing!"

"Someone wanted to speak to Lance. He left his phone number and name. It should be from your side."

"Have you already started?"

Hearing this, Erwin probably understood something. "Yes, we have already taken action and caught the mastermind, but it is a bit troublesome to do it now."

Melo is one of our own and they are core characters. Irving did not hide anything and simply explained it.

Melo couldn't offer any more suggestions at this point, and he didn't think this problem would embarrass Lance, so his focus was still on Lance's safety.

"I'm at home. I'll take care of everything. Don't worry."

"You have to focus on Lance's safety. Something could happen to anyone, but not him!"

The deeper meaning of this sentence is that anything can happen to Erwin, but nothing can happen to Lance.

The entire family may not rely entirely on Lance, but as long as Lance falls, the Lance family will collapse.

The reason is very simple. It is not that they cannot find someone among them who dares to fight and kill, nor is it that they cannot find someone among them who is smart enough. It is that the person they found cannot be brave enough to fight and kill and at the same time be very smart.

And they can have absolute control over the development of some things, and they can't find someone who can establish a relationship with Congress.

So nothing can happen to Lance.

Erwin said, "Don't worry, I promise nothing will happen to him."

After hanging up the phone, he returned to the window. The sky outside the window was gradually getting darker. It would take a few hours before Lance arrived here.

These few hours were also tormenting.

The director of the state police department sat in his office, staring at the silent phone in a daze. He was wondering how much negative information about himself Sheriff Matthew had.

To be honest, Sheriff Matthew is a "smart guy" and he would also send some of his illegal gains to the director.

There are dozens of branches in the entire state. Even if these branches can only send him two hundred dollars a month, his monthly income is still several thousand or tens of thousands.

That’s 70,000 to 80,000 yuan, or more than 100,000 yuan a year.

Are there honest police officers in this era?

Have!
There will always be some people with mental mysophobia. They are unwilling to go along with others, unwilling to accept bribes, and unwilling to frame good people and release bad people just to do things for others after receiving bribes.

But in this era, these people will never reach the level of police chief, branch chief, or sheriff.

The reason is very simple. The time it took for the Federation to be established and the time it took for the Federation to move from barbarism to civilization was still too short!

How many years had it been since the emancipation of slaves?

Young people may not feel much about it, but for older people, in their past lives, they represented lawlessness!
These people have just reached the age or stage of being in power, and their lifelong habits will not change just because of social progress.

For example, the federal government is now facing a serious problem of factionalism. These states are controlled by certain families and may secede from the federal government at any time.

Do you expect federal law, or secular morality, to serve as a guide for official conduct within these states?
Obviously impossible!
People cannot be selfless. The ruling class also has things they like and dislike. No ruling class can be absolutely fair. Even God has children he likes and children he dislikes, let alone humans.

Thus, a group of people who are similar to them and are liked by them become the ruling class, and naturally the people below will also become such people.

Perhaps we can find those fair police officers in the Forest Police Department.

But in the city, no one can do that.

The director was thinking that if the scandal was exposed, he would also be implicated. He looked at the phone, and his only thought now was about Mr. Lance. He hoped that they could communicate better and avoid this bad situation.

In the road station, Sheriff Matthew was also sitting in a chair, looking at the phone, hoping and fearing that it would ring.

He wished he could hear the chief tell him that it was all resolved.

Afraid of hearing the chief tell him he was finished.

Just sitting there, he was sweating continuously, and he suddenly thought of some suspects they had caught. They were sitting in the interrogation room, even if you didn't ask him, didn't interrogate him, and didn't do anything.

Just by sitting there, they would sweat all over and feel uneasy, just like he was at this moment.

As for the heart of it all, Lance.

He was sitting on the train reading the latest newspaper, The Federal Post, which said that the two neighbors to the north of the Federation seemed to have become dishonest recently.

Lance's expression was still somewhat serious.

The Federation was not the only country in this land, there were four other countries in the north, and all of them divided the land together.

It’s just that the federal people and these neighbors have always maintained very good relations. The developed federal government always provides them with assistance, which has also led to many of these neighbors coming to the federal side to live.

Logically speaking, the war in another "world" would not affect the situation here, but there have been some problems in the north recently. The two countries bordering the Federation have begun to increase their crackdown on illegal border crossings. The federal government has actually mentioned to them before that too many illegal immigrants from their side have crossed the border in various ways to work in the Federation.

Considering that society as a whole is still developing upward and needs cheap labor, the federal government turns a blind eye.

As for the two governments, they say they will manage, but they have never really managed.

After all, allowing citizens to sneak into more developed countries to work and earn money, and then come back to spend is a good thing, and they will not stop it.

But now they are beginning to strengthen the management of the border, which is actually not a good thing.

This would be a good thing in non-war times, but now is a war time.

Since the Federal Post published this report, it means that they also felt something was wrong, and even the congressmen also felt something was wrong.

But people still don't know how wrong this is.

What a terrible world!
This was Lance's comment as he put down the newspaper. Dinner was already ready in the dining car.

No matter how bad the world is, as long as he has money, power, people and guns, it will definitely not be too bad!

After dinner, Lance lay in bed and rested for a while. When he woke up, he had arrived at the New Bermingham station.

The train slowly entered the station, and with a "hiss" sound, the entire station was covered with steam, like a fairyland.

After a while, the steam was blown away by the whistling wind, and the people in the carriage came out. They cleared the platform first, and then Lance came out of the carriage.

Erwin was also on the platform, and he came over and gave Lance a hug, followed by the others, but most of them were just handshakes.

The group of people were carrying large and small boxes as they walked outside. As they walked, Erwin said, "Mello called in the evening and said someone wanted to contact you. They left a phone number and a name."

He gave Lance the small card that recorded these things. Lance took a look at it and didn't recognize it.

"Who is this?"

"The Chief of State Police," Erwin replied.

Facing Lance's puzzled gaze, he explained, "I asked Clara..." He saw that Lance's eyebrows were raised, and he seemed to have no impression of this name, so he explained, "It's Bolton's wife, the young girl."

Lance showed a look of realization, "I actually know this name, but I can't remember it. I remembered it after you reminded me."

It was a name of a minor character, or even not even a minor character. He didn't take it to heart at all. He just remembered "what?" and someone would remind him anyway when he needed to know.

"she knows?"

"It's not her, it's her cousin's family. They don't know whose name it is."

"Then I asked the state police officer we caught him with, and he told me that was the name of their chief, it should be."

Lance emphasized a key word, "Should!"

Erwin shrugged. "That's what he said. There's no way for me to verify it here..."

He actually asked the leaders of the local Imperial gang, but they didn't know either.

This is actually not strange. It's like someone suddenly asking you who is the head of a department in the provincial government.

Unless you are someone who cares very much about these people and these things, who would care about the name of a person who has no interest in you and no connection with you?
Lance nodded, "It seems like they are a little anxious."

The group left the station and the train arrived in New Birmingham earlier than expected.

If they were coming out of the Jingang City station now, it would definitely be quite lively, but here it seemed very deserted, but there were still some people staying here.

When they saw such a large group of people in uniform, they subconsciously avoided looking at them, not wanting to cause trouble.

But in the dark night, under the street lights, that touch of bright red was also deeply imprinted in their minds.

Alvin got some buses over, otherwise they wouldn't be able to accommodate so many people, and now they have no objection to the buses.

This is the good thing about the atmosphere of the Lance family. Under Lance's leadership, they never think that they are superior to others and that they must make cars.

Cars can do it, buses can do it, and they will have no problem running.

Alvin has rented several vacant villas around the villa. The development of New Birmingham is very slow, and there are many vacant houses in the villa area.

These houses are all registered with real estate companies. When they hear that someone is willing to rent them, the real estate companies don’t care what the houses will be used for. Being able to get money is the real benefit.

Alvin prepared a villa specifically for Lance. Because Lance had slept before, he was not sleepy or tired.

After a quick wash, he sat in the living room, picked up the phone and dialed the number.

It was so late, and he didn't know if there was anyone on the other end of the line, but Lance believed that there must be someone on the other end.

The fact was just as he guessed. The phone rang for a while and then was picked up.

"Mr. Lance?"

"Yes, it's me."

Lance really called, and the director didn't know what to say for a moment. He was silent for more than ten seconds, as if thinking about how to start.

Before he spoke, Lance heard a gasp. "I'm sorry that we're communicating under these circumstances. It was only today that I learned that my men accidentally intercepted your shipment of merchandise."

"Accidentally?" Lance emphasized the word. "We have more than 20 good guys here, plus the driver. This can't be explained by accident."

"If there was only one car and one driver here and you stopped it, I could accept your explanation."

"But you killed more than 20 people and hid the two million worth of goods. This was not accidental. This was deliberate, Mr. Chief."

The director obviously wanted to resolve the matter peacefully. "Mr. Lance, we are willing to compensate you. Please state the conditions."

"How about we just end this matter here."

Lance was a little surprised that the state police chief took the initiative to lower his stance, but he also supported it if all the troubles could be solved without taking action.

This will also save face for the other party and allow for a series of subsequent cooperation.

The Likale State Police Chief cooperated well with him, which had a significant effect in monopolizing smuggling on roads within the state.

Lance thought for a while and said, "First of all, the amount of this batch of goods should be how much. Give me the money or give me the goods."

"Then let me handle all the people who planned and participated in this incident, including Sheriff Matthew and his men."

If the chief could agree to Lance's previous request, he probably knew how wealthy Sheriff Matthew was, and he also knew that this batch of wine itself could be sold for a lot of money.

Now that people have come to him, there is no need to hide anything and he can just contact those bars directly. He doesn’t even need to pay much money.

But he couldn't agree to the second request.

Once Matthew is handed over, or even if he just has this thought, and Matthew finds out, it is likely to cause a series of problems.

At the same time, his own authority was challenged. How would others view him if he handed over his subordinates just because of a conflict?
You have to know that he has dozens of police stations and police chiefs under his command. The reason he can hold his current position is not only because of the support from above him, but also because of the support from below.

What is the most feared thing about this kind of administrative job?
It's just fiction!

He thought for a while and said, "Mr. Lance, this request is a little bit... I can't agree to it for him. Can you change it?"

"For example, I can help you vent your anger by breaking one of his arms or legs?"

Lance said in a very calm tone, "I lost dozens of brothers!"

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, blood for blood, this is the iron rule of the Lance family, there is no room for negotiation!"

(End of this chapter)